MONTREAL — The Parti Quebecois government has fired off a warning that the province’s ongoing corruption inquiry to be careful, as its testimony spirals off onto a damning and unpredictable path.

Both Premier Pauline Marois and her deputy premier issued similar messages as they left a caucus meeting today: Marois said the judicial inquiry should show some “prudence,” and her deputy premier Francois Gendron urged it to “be careful.”

That message was delivered as sensational testimony this week veers off into unexpected areas, and it isn’t just tarnishing the old Charest Liberals.

Liberal justice critic Gilles Ouimet said Marois, in commenting on the work of the commission, was violating the separation of powers between the executive and the judiciary, the Montreal Gazette reports.

“It’s unacceptable,” Ouimet said, calling on Marois to retract and to pledge she will not interfere with the commission.